It’s been more than 100 years since the last transportation revolution, and I for one am ready for the next step. It’s 2004, and we’re still just driving cars. Weren’t there supposed to be flying cars by now? Or at least robot-driven cars? What happened to that?

The response from the automotive industry: Patience, grasshopper.

Before they can fly or drive themselves, cars need adequate sensors so that the autopilot can “see” the road. Engineers have been experimenting with camera-mounted cars for years, but Infiniti and Lexus are among the first to implement them. Imagine pulling out of the driveway, blissfully unaware of the tricycle left directly behind the car. Using just mirrors, the tricycle would soon be a tangle of metal, rubber, and tassels. But put the Lexus LS or Infiniti Q in reverse, and a camera mounted above the license plate turns on. A view screen on the dashboard displays the area immediately behind the vehicle, including the aforementioned tricycle.

Engineers may be making progress on the “eyes” of my automated chauffeur, but how about the brain? Here again Lexus and Infiniti are ahead of the pack. The Lexus LS includes a “Pre-Collision System” that uses radar and a computer to determine if a crash is unavoidable. If it determines a crash is unavoidable, the system triggers the airbags, activates a special “collision seat belt,” and enables the brakes to apply maximum force the moment they’re touched. The Infiniti Q has “Intelligent Cruise Control” to adjust cruise speeds based on traffic conditions. Lasers sweep the area in front of the car. If a car jumps into the lane, or the Infiniti catches up to a slower car, the lasers detect it and slow down. Once the cars are out of the way, the system speeds back up to the set speed. The system also detects curves ahead, and slows down appropriately.

Now imagine systems like these hooked up to other technologies. A German company, Bosch, announced on Monday an image-recognition system that can identify lane lines and road signs; Cadillac and Volvo have announced they will include the system in their 2008 models. Link the Bosch system to the intelligent cruise control, and you have a car that can maintain an appropriate speed and steer by tracking the lane lines. Then add a system that recognizes changes in weather and light conditions, such as the one being developed by California-based Iteris, integrate the GPS navigation system already available in many luxury automobiles, and self-driving cars don’t seem like such a crazy idea.

Of course, that’s a dramatic oversimplification. Every time a variable is added to a task, the computational needs of the processor increase exponentially. Artificial intelligence software has a long way to go before it can make the kind of snap judgments needed for good driving. But engineers are making progress on the problem. Self-driving cars seem likely in our lifetime.